In My Life
by JMHaughey
Summary: An OS for lalaurala-bones birthday. AU - Caskett


**Author's Note – Happy Birthday, Laura! My beautiful friend who got me started with Castle. I adore you. XO **

**Thanks to jenlovesbones – the other half, for the readthrough. **

**Prompt: Dinner somewhere – the rest well, it wrote itself. It's AU. . .**

**Disclaimer: Sigh. **

**Something's got to change - the past just hangs here to remind me  
>That one of these mornings - I'll reach for you<br>And find me  
>- <strong>

**_In My Life | _Gov't Mule**

Castle finishes lighting the last candle on the kitchen counter just as he hears a faint knock on the door. He puts the lighter down and rubs his hands together.

He glides across the apartment and opens the door. "Kate! You do have a key, you know?"

She smiles and kisses his cheek. "I know. I didn't feel like digging through my gym bag."

He reaches up to take the bag from her shoulder and helps her take her coat off. "Good thing I answered then. I thought we've have dinner here tonight, Mother took Alexis to an auction at Sotheby's. I hope you don't mind if we stay in."

"With you cooking? Never. After the week we've had, I'm more than happy to stay in."

They make their way to the kitchen. Castle puts her gym bag down in its now familiar spot. She had been spending more time at his place in the recent months. The wall had finally come down. They had come to accept they were simply stronger together than apart.

The lingering smells of fresh basil, cilantro, homemade tomato sauce, and chicken sautéing on the stove along with the candles lit around the apartment radiate a sense of comfort and warmth.

"Smells delicious, Castle. I see you've been slaving all day, huh?"

"Something I've whipped up. You know I'm kind of important at the 12th precinct so I wasn't here all day."

"Only you think you are."

"I'm hurt."

"No, you're not." Kate smiles.

He steps closer to her, his hands on her hips and moves her closer to the food on the stove. "Alright, Chef Kate, try this." He lifts the wooden spoon from the pot simmering on the stove and brings it to her mouth. "Is this to your liking?" She sticks her tongue out to taste it.

"Perfect."

oOo

Castle thought back to how this all started. He woke up with an elbow the stomach. Too tired to really react or give much thought, he flipped back around and faced his nightstand. His eyes never opened and he just smiled. He'd fallen back into a deep sleep when his alarm went off - that always happened. He mumbled, 'Just a few more minutes.'

Another voice floated through the air, "Castle, you're gonna make us late. Get up."

"Nah-huh. It's Saturday. No work today."

"I know. We have a tree to pick out and some gifts to buy."

"Five more minutes."

"Usually, you need more than five." She waggles her eyebrows.

He looked over at Kate, reached out and lightly rubbed her face, and whispered, "Stay forever."

oOo

"Thanks for leaving me with paperwork."

"I know how much you enjoy it. And technically, I'm not a cop so my reports do not matter."

"You are my partner. And a writer. They matter."

Castle raises his wine glass, "Let's not talk about work anymore. Tonight, this is a work-free zone."

"I can agree to that." Kate clinks his glass.

Castle outdoes himself. He has a few more surprises up his sleeve. hey talk about Alexis heading off to college. They discuss Martha still living there during the main course. And by dessert they are discussing Ryan's wedding as well as Esposito and Lanie. And of course, they chat about what's next for them, only a little bit.

Castle takes Kate's hand, "There's more."

"Of course there is."

"Leave the dishes. I'll get them later."

She nods and follows him.

oOo

"What's this?"

Castle handed her a box. It looked it could carry a ring. No, it can't be. . .

"Open it."

She lifted the lid with caution. "A key."

"Yes, I thought it would appropriate since you do spend so much time here. You should be able to get in whenever you need to."

She lifted the key out. Attached to the key was a keychain. A simple letter 'K'. "You know what this means? I have access to your laser tag equipment whenever I want."

"Oh, you can have access to my. . ."

"Wow. This is alright? Alexis and Martha know, right?"

"Of course they know. Mother said, 'It's about time.' I think they've known this would be the eventual outcome."

"They are pretty smart. Thank you, Castle. Really."

oOo

Their first Christmas together. Technically, their fifth but who's counting?

Tree decorating is a big to-do in the Castle house. Ornaments - some handmade courtesy of Alexis, some over-the-top per Martha, some just added more color when the lights were turned on. Kate had the pleasure of affixing the angel to the top of tree. It was her mother's tree-topper. She never put up a tree, but this year it was adoringly added to the Castle collection.

Castle still holding her hand, sat her down next to the fire. "I want to give your first gift."

"Castle, it's not Christmas yet."

"I waited long enough."

Castle disappears for a quick second. Reappearing with a two wine glasses and a unopened bottle. The bottle read Grand Vin de Chateau Latour. It was a Red Bourdeaux and it looked expensive.

"This is special. I bought this bottle of wine around the time Nikki Heat was born. Actually, I bought a few bottles. The vintner said this label was made from an extraordinary crop batch. In fact, there were only a couple dozen bottles made of it. I bought the bottles, then called my friend the mayor after that first case and the rest was history. . . I wanted nothing but the best. One is for tonight, one for a few years down the road, and one when it actually ready to drink. I think I'm safe to crack open the first bottle."

"You bought them after that. And you were sure we would make it to the first bottle?"

"Sure, I had my doubts. Doesn't everyone? But we are here now. I don't think we could turn back. Relationships like wine start out with an infusion of different flavors, some bitter, some with more substance and some with everything but real flavor but they need time to flourish, mature and blossom. . .Of course, I did, Kate."

"I don't want to turn back. What about the other bottles, you know, if things hadn't worked out as planned."

"Wouldn't have to come to that. I had faith that, for one reason or another, in one way or another, we'd get to sharing this bottle."

Kate raises her glass. "Here's to good wine and fate."

oOo

_"Katie, it's time."_

_She put down the book she was reading and responded. "Coming, Mom."_

_Christmas was a Johanna Beckett's favorite holiday. The family would make popcorn garland, sing songs and decorate the tree. Katie always had to distinct honor of placing the angel on the top of the tree. The angel was made by Johanna's mother. She was dressed in a red velvet dress with gold trimmings. She was brunette with blank face so she could be whatever the person looking at wanted._

_"It's your turn to do the honors." Katie loved the ceremony of it all. Once the angel was perched, it felt like Christmas._

Kate looked at the angel atop the tree. Every Christmas, she held the angel and thought of her mother. She never set up a tree. It never felt like a holiday without her mother, except now. She has another reason to celebrate. Intertwining her traditions with the Castle's because that is what family do. And as she was coming to accept, Castle's family was her family.

"Castle, I know you don't have anything like this."

He just looks at her, "Oh, really?"

She comes armed with the oversized book. She handed it to him. It was a just a run of mill scrapbook. Dark blue with no markings.

He looks at it and glances at her again, she whispers "Just open it."

Inside, her handwriting scrawls across the page.

Written in order were all the books that Richard Castle had ever published.

He looked at the first page. His first review.

"You clipped them all?"

"Yes. I never told you this but you helped me. Even before you walked in the precinct, I knew you, well your bookjacket blurbs. I have all my books signed. You helped me escape the pain of my mother's death, Rick. Your books. Your words."

Castle is at a loss. Words always come to him so quickly, but when he is around her and only her, he often finds himself lacking the proper words to say. He says the first thing that comes to his mind.

"I love you, Kate." He keeps turning the pages. "This. . . This. . . I don't know what to say, really. I'm glad that I was able to help you. The amazing thing is. . . this, us – has is what makes what I do worth it."

"I love you, too."

oOo

Castle wakes up a few hours later and turns to his side. An empty space. He grabs his robe and heads downstairs.

"Kate? What are you doing up?"

"I just wanted some water."

He notices she is gazing at the angel – she must be reminiscing about her mother, he thinks but doesn't say anything. Castle joins her on the couch and puts his arm around her. "I have my last gift for you."

He reaches down and picks up an identical box as the keychain and hands it to her. "I know you wear your mother's ring for the life you lost. And your father's watch for a life saved. . ."

She opens the box and picks up another necklace. A long silver chain that carries a charm.

A castle.

"This is for a life shared."

"Always."

__**FIN**


End file.
